NMIMS Students: Writing a Project Charter in Your First Internship Week

A project charter is a one-page agreement that states what you will deliver, what you will not, what you are assuming and how success will be judged. In a 14-day internship, write it on Day 1 or Day 2, keep it to a single page, and get your supervisor’s written “yes” by the end of Day 2 so the remaining twelve days go into actual work.

Why a 14-day internship needs a charter more than a long one does

In a six-week internship, a vague start can be corrected slowly. In two weeks it cannot. Ten working days disappear quickly, and most short internships go wrong in the same way: the intern and the supervisor each imagine a different deliverable, and the mismatch is discovered on the last day.

A charter prevents that. It does three jobs:

• Aligns expectations on what “done” looks like before work begins.
• Protects your time when extra requests arrive, because you can point to the agreed scope and ask what should be dropped.
• Gives you evidence of what you planned and delivered, which helps when you write your report or résumé line.

If you are doing the free two-week online internship at CareerSwami, which includes a free offer letter and a free completion certificate after successful completion, the same method works: treat the 14 days as a tiny project and charter it.

The fill-in project charter template for a 14-day internship

Copy the block below into a document or email. Every field should fit in one or two lines. If a field needs a paragraph, the project is too big for two weeks.

PROJECT CHARTER
Project title:
Intern:                      Supervisor:
Start date:                  End date (Day 14):
Charter version / date:

1. PURPOSE (one sentence: why this work matters to the team)

2. OBJECTIVES (max 3, each starting with a verb and containing a number or date)
   O1:
   O2:
   O3:

3. DELIVERABLES (what will physically exist on Day 14)
   D1:   due Day __
   D2:   due Day __

4. IN SCOPE

5. OUT OF SCOPE

6. ASSUMPTIONS (things I am treating as true)
   A1:
   A2:

7. DEPENDENCIES (what I need, from whom, by when)

8. RISKS (max 3) and what I will do about each

9. SUCCESS MEASURES (how we will judge it, and who judges)

10. MILESTONES AND CHECK-INS
    Day 2:  charter approved
    Day 7:  mid-point review
    Day 12: draft complete
    Day 14: final handover

11. APPROVAL
    Supervisor reply "Approved" by email on: ____

What each field should contain

Writing objectives that can be checked in two weeks

Use a simple test: could a stranger look at your Day 14 output and say yes or no to the objective? If the answer is “sort of”, rewrite it.

1. Start with an action verb: draft, compile, analyse, schedule, test, document.
2. Add a quantity, a format or a deadline.
3. Limit yourself to three objectives. Two well-done objectives beat five half-done ones.
4. Order them by importance, so that if time runs short the last one is the one dropped.

Scope and assumptions: the two fields that prevent most disputes

The out-of-scope list matters as much as the in-scope list. It is where you quietly record things a supervisor might casually expect, such as video editing, a full competitor report or ad spend management. Writing them down lets the supervisor either confirm the exclusion or consciously add them and remove something else.

Assumptions are facts you have not confirmed. Good ones name a person or a date. Typical examples for a short internship:

• Access to the required tools or shared folder will be granted by Day 1.
• One named person will review drafts within 24 hours.
• Existing brand material or data already exists and can be reused.
• The intern works the agreed hours and the supervisor is reachable on one agreed channel.

If an assumption turns out false, you have a documented reason for any delay, rather than an awkward excuse.

Success measures that a supervisor will actually accept

Choose measures within your control. For a two-week project, results like “increase followers by 20%” depend on factors you cannot control. Prefer output and quality measures.

Worked example: a charter for a small event-awareness campaign

This example is illustrative. The organisation, names and numbers are invented to show how the fields are filled in.

Imagine an intern assigned to a small nonprofit that runs a weekend career workshop. The supervisor’s first message says: “Help us promote the workshop online.”

PROJECT CHARTER
Project title: Career Workshop Awareness Campaign
Intern: A. Student      Supervisor: R. Mehta
Start: Day 1            End: Day 14

1. PURPOSE
Increase registrations for the 30 November workshop by making it visible
to college students in the city.

2. OBJECTIVES
O1: Draft and schedule 10 Instagram and LinkedIn posts by Day 10.
O2: Write one email announcement (under 150 words) by Day 6.
O3: Prepare a one-page campaign summary with all links by Day 14.

3. DELIVERABLES
D1: Content calendar (spreadsheet), Day 4
D2: 10 post drafts in two batches, Day 5 and Day 8
D3: Email text, Day 6
D4: Campaign summary, Day 14

4. IN SCOPE
Organic posts, email text, content calendar.

5. OUT OF SCOPE
Paid ads, video production, replying to registration queries.

6. ASSUMPTIONS
A1: Logo and event details are shared by end of Day 1.
A2: Mr Mehta reviews drafts within 24 hours.
A3: Registration link already exists.

7. DEPENDENCIES
Event poster from the design volunteer by Day 3.

8. RISKS
R1: Late feedback. Response: send drafts in two batches.
R2: Event details change. Response: keep one master details sheet.

9. SUCCESS MEASURES
At least 8 of 10 posts approved with minor or no edits (judged by
Mr Mehta); all deliverables on time; registrations tracked and
reported, not promised.

10. MILESTONES
Day 2 charter approved; Day 7 mid-point review; Day 12 drafts done;
Day 14 handover.

11. APPROVAL
Reply "Approved" by email.

Notice what the charter did. “Help promote” became four deliverables with dates, a paid-ads exclusion was stated openly, and the success measure avoids promising a registration number the intern cannot control.

Getting your supervisor to sign off quickly

Supervisors are busy. They approve fast when the request is small, specific and easy to answer. Use this sequence.

1. Day 1, ask for 10 minutes. Send a short message: “Could we spend 10 minutes today so I can confirm what you want delivered by Day 14? I will send a one-page summary afterwards.”
2. Ask four questions in that call: What does a good result look like? What is the one thing I must not miss? Who reviews my work? What should I not touch?
3. Send the draft the same day. A draft written within hours is easier to react to than a blank page.
4. Make approval one word. End the email with: “If this looks right, please reply ‘Approved’. If anything needs changing, mark it and I will update within an hour.”
5. Highlight the two decisions you need. Usually scope boundaries and the success measure. Do not make them read all eleven fields to find the questions.
6. Follow up once, at the end of Day 2, with a polite reminder and a statement that you will begin with the lowest-risk deliverable in the meantime.

A short email you can adapt

Subject: Project charter for review - approval needed by Day 2

Hi [Name],

Thank you for the briefing today. Attached is a one-page charter
with the objectives, scope and dates we discussed.

Two points I would like you to confirm:
1. Out of scope: paid advertising and video.
2. Success measure: 8 of 10 posts approved with minor or no edits.

If this looks right, please reply "Approved". If not, mark the
changes and I will update within an hour.

Regards,
[Your name]

NMIMS interns and charters: what the Bengaluru resource book suggests, and what to check for your own programme

Students at Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies should be careful about which rulebook applies to them. The only institution document available here is the 2024-25 Student Resource Book Part II for the Bengaluru campus, and it is an excerpt, so treat it as a hint rather than as your rule. It may not apply to Mumbai or to your programme, and you should check the current version.

According to that excerpt, the Summer Internship applies to Full Time MBA students and is a non-credit compulsory component. It also mentions 100 percent attendance at the internship organisation and certification of satisfactory completion from that organisation. It refers to a Placement Department that facilitates summer placement opportunities and to a We Care Internship office. Finally, it says home-based internships are not permitted without written permission, though the excerpt is fragmentary and the exact wording is uncertain.

Here is why this matters for a charter. If your programme requires attendance and organisation-issued certification, your charter should record the working pattern and name the person who will confirm completion. If remote work needs written permission, your approved charter and the permission should sit together in one email thread. A charter does not replace any college approval, but it gives you a clean record of what you did.

A separate free online internship, such as a two-week one, is not automatically the same thing as a college-recognised internship. Whether it satisfies any requirement of yours is something only your college can say.

Verification steps for NMIMS students before you rely on the charter

1. Find the current Student Resource Book or internship guidelines for your own campus and programme, and check the year printed on it.
2. Email your programme office or internship coordinator asking: “Does an online or self-sourced two-week internship count toward any requirement, and what documents are needed?”
3. Ask in writing whether home-based or remote work needs permission, and from whom.
4. Ask what form of completion certificate or letter is accepted, and who must sign it.
5. Keep the approved charter, the supervisor’s “Approved” email and any permission in one folder so you can produce them if asked.

Keeping the charter alive during the remaining twelve days

A charter that is signed and forgotten adds little. Use it as a working document:

• Day 7 review: tick off deliverables, update risks and send a three-line status email.
• Change handling: when a new request appears, reply “Happy to add this; to fit it in, shall we drop X or move the Day 14 date?” Then record the change as version 1.1.
• Day 12 check: compare every deliverable with the success measures and fix gaps before the final day.
• Day 14: attach the charter to your handover note, with each objective marked done, partly done or dropped, and why.

Pitfalls specific to writing a charter in week one

• Writing it too long. Past one page, supervisors stop reading. Cut background and keep decisions.
• Waiting for a perfect brief. If the supervisor is vague, write your best interpretation and ask them to correct it.
• Treating assumptions as facts. Anything you have not confirmed belongs in the assumptions field.
• Promising outcomes you do not control, such as sales, followers or placement.
• Skipping the approval line. A verbal “sounds fine” is easy to forget. Ask for a one-word email reply.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long should a project charter be for a two-week internship?

One page, or roughly 250 to 400 words. If it runs longer, the project is probably too large for 14 days, and you should ask the supervisor to prioritise.

What if my supervisor says there is no time to review a charter?

Shrink the request. Send only the objectives, the out-of-scope line and the success measure in the email body, and ask for a one-word reply. Starting work on the least risky deliverable while you wait is reasonable, as long as you note that approval is pending.

Can I change the charter after it is approved?

Yes, but do it openly. Describe the change, say what it displaces, get a fresh “Approved” reply and label the document with a new version number.

Should a project charter include a budget?

Usually not for a short internship. If your task involves spending, add a single line stating the limit and who approves expenses. Otherwise write “no budget; no spending authorised”.

What is the difference between a charter and a project plan as a Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies student?

The charter states what and why, with boundaries and success measures. A plan describes how and when in detail, such as task lists and day-by-day schedules. In two weeks, the milestone line of the charter plus a simple task list is usually enough.

Do NMIMS rules require a project charter during an internship?

None of the available material says so. The Bengaluru resource book excerpt discusses attendance and completion certification, not charters. Check your own programme’s current guidelines with your internship coordinator, and use the charter as a personal planning tool.

How do I measure success if the work is mostly research?

Use output and quality measures: number of sources reviewed, a summary of fixed length, a list of recommendations ranked by the supervisor, and delivery by the agreed date. Ask the supervisor which format they would find most useful before you start.